Brentford's Christian Eriksen looks despondent.

After scoring a goal against Manchester United in August, Mathias Jensen celebrated by putting his finger to his mouth and smiling broadly. Within the first twenty minutes of the match, he had just given Brentford a two-goal lead and was signaling that Erik ten Hag's team had been quiet and startled.

As David de Gea lumbered toward his goal to pick up the ball for the restart, Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot, and Christian Eriksen put up their hands in bewilderment. Ten Hag, who was standing frustrated under the glaring sun on the touchline, was aware that his gameplan had been rendered unnecessary as a result of De Gea's recent string of errors. De Gea had just made two errors in rapid succession. De Gea had the desire for the earth to gobble him up completely.

It was obvious at that point that the players were already defeated as they slowly returned to their spots while staring at the blades of grass underneath them. It is not impossible to overcome a two-goal deficit, but judging from the players' body language, it appeared as though they had already resigned themselves to their defeat, with the exception of Cristiano Ronaldo, who continued to yell and gesture from the halfway line.

Ronaldo rallied the rest of his team to respond, and he encouraged them to focus their efforts. Ronaldo has played in stadiums such as the Bernabeu, the Nou Camp, the San Siro, and the Vicente Calderon, so the 17,000-person capacity of the Brentford Community Stadium was never going to faze him.

It is a shame that his teammates were and that they continued to capitulate in spectacular fashion, giving up two more goals before halftime. It would have been better if they hadn't. The Beatles' song "Hey Jude" was the one that was played after the final whistle to congratulate Brentford on their resounding victory.

However, despite the fact that the atmosphere at Brentford is just as intimidating as the one at Lord's cricket ground, United was still in a state of shock. The performance was a blot on the record of the club, and it was abundantly clear that there was an immediate need for something to be different. Ten Hag was certainly not exempt from criticism, as even he would probably admit that his approach was naive, but the players were the ones who had to take responsibility for their actions.

It was actually Ten Hag's self-awareness and tactical flexibility that inspired United to an unlikely win against Liverpool at Old Trafford just nine days after the debacle against Brentford. Although there was talk of Ten Hag joining in with punishing running drills after the debacle against Brentford, this was not the case.

Liverpool did not begin the season with their typical vigor, but fans feared the worst because the team's heavy defeats from the previous season were still fresh in their memories. The wounds from those matches were still fresh and it was expected that Liverpool would inevitably reopen those wounds.

The performance against Liverpool was a vast improvement from the one that had been produced at Brentford, and United was able to use this to their advantage and come away with a 2-1 victory. The fight was fierce and determined, and the counterattacks were brutally effective.

Erik ten Hag observes Brentford's win.

There were questions over whether or not a coach with Ten Hag's resume, which includes managing Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich II, Utrecht, and Ajax, would have the strategic understanding necessary to be successful in the Premier League. Ten Hag was naive to believe that he could set up United to play in the same manner as his Ajax side did in his first two matches in command of United since the demands of the Eredivisie are radically different from those of the Premier League.

Unfortunately for the Dutchman, his attempt to exert influence over the legal actions against Brighton and Brentford backfired. It was obvious that Ten Hag did not have the personnel to play in the manner that he desired, which resulted in a shift in strategy when playing Liverpool, and it was the factor that made the difference.

Although Ten Hag urged Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen to play in a different manner, he continued to start Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane in the game against Liverpool. He also kept faith with Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay. The pragmatic method was successful, and it has been utilized on subsequent occasions.

Ten Hag doggedly remained with his Ajax-like strategy, instead of seeing that it was not working and leaving his team hopelessly open to average opposition, in some alternate world Brentford did not humiliate United in August, and Ten Hag persisted with his Ajax-like style. Ten Hag should be commended for adapting, but it's possible that this transformation would not have taken place if the fiasco at Brentford hadn't been recorded in the annals of history. United needed to be more realistic, and the unexpected loss to Brentford served as the impetus for this shift.

United won their match against Arsenal by a score of 3-1 and handed Mikel Arteta's team their first loss of the season. This outcome would have been extremely unlikely if Ten Hag had employed the same strategies that were unsuccessful against Brighton and Brentford.

Regardless of his reputation, Ten Hag is not entering uncharted terrain here by any stretch of the imagination. Although Ajax dominated possession in games played in the Eredivisie, they frequently employed a pragmatic approach when playing in the Champions League against teams that have more individual talent than they did.

That Ajax team had the ability to go on the counter-attack when necessary, which is exactly what is happening currently at Old Trafford. They were also able to handle pressure well. The history of United also suggests that this approach need to be encouraged rather than chastised because it should be considered acceptable.

Counterattacking football has been crucial to some of United's most significant victories, and the club's most successful teams over the years have given substance rather than style the highest priority. There have been a lot of memorable Champions League nights when that has occurred.

On Sunday, United will play Manchester City, and they will have the upper hand in possession. United have demonstrated that they are able to absorb pressure, and their strategy at the Etihad Stadium will consist of counterattacking with the pace of Marcus Rashford, who can target the space in behind the defense.

Because Ten Hag has altered his strategy, the likelihood of an embarrassing scoreline occurring again has decreased. This is true regardless of the outcome. If the Dutch manager had started his team with the instructions they had received at the beginning of the season, Manchester City would have been laughing at them.

If nothing had been done differently, the end result would have been disastrous; however, the new strategy has instilled confidence in United for the upcoming match.